Obesity may be our fate

Updated 11:10 pm, Tuesday, September 18, 2012

A man lights a cigarette as he walks past an advertisement created in collaboration with Mountain Dew and New York Art Department, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, on 13th Street in New York. New York City cracked down on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks Thursday in what is celebrated as a groundbreaking attempt to curb obesity and condemned as a breathtaking intrusion into people's lives by a mayor bent on creating a nanny state. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Furticella)

A man lights a cigarette as he walks past an advertisement created...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at a news conference in New York, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. New York City cracked down on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks Thursday in what is celebrated as a groundbreaking attempt to curb obesity and condemned as a breathtaking intrusion into people's lives by a mayor bent on creating a nanny state. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at a news conference...

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 30, 2006 file photo, a Kentucky Fried Chicken employee uses tongs to hold up an sample of the company's trans fat-free Extra Crispy fried chicken in New York. New York City now has hard evidence that its ban on trans fat in restaurant food made a meaningful dent in people's consumption of the artery clogger and wasn't just replaced with another bad fat. The findings being published Tuesday, July 16, 2012 have implications beyond heart health, suggesting another strategy to curb the nation's obesity epidemic fueled by a high-calorie, super-sized environment. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 30, 2006 file photo, a Kentucky Fried...

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 09: Andrea Herbert attends a protest billed as the `'Million Big Gulp March" in lower Manhattan which is opposed to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's proposal to prohibit licensed food service establishments from using containers larger than 16 ounces on July 9, 2012 in New York City. New York City has cracked down on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks.

(Spencer Platt, Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 09: Andrea Herbert attends a protest billed as...

Various size cups and sugar cubes are displayed at a news conference at New York's City Hall, Thursday, May 31, 2012. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing a ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks in the city's restaurants, delis and movie theaters in the hopes of combating obesity, an expansion of his administration's efforts to encourage healthy behavior by limiting residents' choices. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Various size cups and sugar cubes are displayed at a news...

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 09: A man attends a protest billed as the `'Million Big Gulp March" in lower Manhattan which is opposed to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to prohibit licensed food service establishments from using containers larger than 16 ounces on July 9, 2012 in New York City. New York City has cracked down on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks.

(Spencer Platt, Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 09: A man attends a protest billed as the...

New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, accompanied by Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs, addresses a news conference at New York's City Hall, Thursday, May 31, 2012.New York City has cracked down on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, accompanied by...

A man leaves a 7-Eleven store with a Double Gulp drink, in New York, Thursday, May 31, 2012. New York City has cracked down on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A man leaves a 7-Eleven store with a Double Gulp drink, in New...

(FILES)An unidentified man takes a walk in this 29 August 2007 file photo in Washington,DC. Obese workers cost US employers 73.1-billion dollars a year, much of it due to "presenteeism", or being less productive on the job due to health problems, a study published on October 8, 2010 shows. The dollar sum lost is the "equivalent of hiring 1.8 million workers a year at 42,000 dollars each, which is roughly the average annual wage of US workers," the study led by Eric Finkelstein, deputy director for health services and systems research at Duke-National University of Singapore, found. Finkelstein and his team of researchers tallied medical expenditures, presenteeism and absence from work to put a dollar figure on the per capita cost of obesity among full-time US workers. AFP PHOTO/STR

(FILES)An unidentified man takes a walk in this 29 August 2007 file...

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: Aaron Porter poses with his 21 ounce cup of soda at a Manhattan fast food restaurant on September 13, 2012 in New York City. In an effort to combat obesity, the New York City Board of Health voted to ban the sale of large sugary drinks. The controversial measure bars the sale of sugar drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants and concessions.

(Mario Tama, Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: Aaron Porter poses with his 21 ounce...

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A workers fills a cup with soda at a Manhattan fast food restaurant on September 13, 2012 in New York City. In an effort to combat obesity, the New York City Board of Health voted to ban the sale of large sugary drinks. The controversial measure bars the sale of sugar drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants and concessions.

(Mario Tama, Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A workers fills a cup with soda at a...

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A customer fills a 21 ounce cup with soda at a 'McDonalds' on September 13, 2012 in New York City. In an effort to combat obesity, the New York City Board of Health voted to ban the sale of large sugary drinks. The controversial measure bars the sale of sugar drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants and concessions.

(Mario Tama, Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A customer fills a 21 ounce cup with...

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A 32-ounce soda is filled at a Manhattan McDonalds on September 13, 2012 in New York City. In an effort to combat obesity, the New York City Board of Health voted to ban the sale of large sugary drinks. The controversial measure bars the sale of sugar drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants and concessions.

(Mario Tama, Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A 32-ounce soda is filled at a...

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A customer eats with a 21 ounce cups of soda at a Manhattan McDonalds on September 13, 2012 in New York City. In an effort to combat obesity, the New York City Board of Health voted to ban the sale of large sugary drinks. The controversial measure bars the sale of sugar drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants and concessions.

(Mario Tama, Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A customer eats with a 21 ounce cups...

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 13: A customer eats with a 21 ounce cups of soda at a Manhattan McDonalds on September 13, 2012 in New York City. In an effort to combat obesity, the New York City Board of Health voted to ban the sale of large sugary drinks. The controversial measure bars the sale of sugar drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants and concessions.

The report, called "F as in Fat," estimated that New York could face billions in additional medical costs related to obesity each year and said that just a 5 percent reduction in the population's average body mass index would save the state $40 billion over 20 years.

"It truly is a nationwide crisis," said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, during a national conference call with media.

An adult is considered obese if he or she weighs 20 percent more than the normal weight, so a 5-foot-8-inch adult weighing 200 pounds is obese, according to standards used in the study.

In 2011, 24.5 percent of New York adults were obese, which puts New York among the 10 states with the lowest obesity rates.

Mississippi still has the highest rate at 34.9 percent and Colorado has the lowest at 20.7 percent. Twenty years ago, no state had an obesity rate over 15 percent.

"If we stay on this trajectory, by 2030 we could see 6 million new cases of diabetes, 5 million new cases of coronary heart disease and stroke and more than 400,000 new cases of obesity-related cancers," Levi said.

The "F as in Fat" analysis estimated that the U.S. will pay $48 billion to $66 billion per year in additional health care costs and suffer about $400 billion in lost economic productivity annually.

The study sponsors said the U.S. must replicate anti-obesity initiatives that have worked on local levels. New York City reduced obesity rates in grades K-8, and Philadelphia improved obesity rates citywide — most strikingly among minority groups. Philadelphia improved school nutrition standards, made fresh foods available at corner stores and allowed people to use food stamps at farmers markets.

"We know what it takes to win, what we need to do now is take winning efforts to scale," said Michelle Larkin, assistant vice president and deputy director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Group.

Levi and Larkin said they are watching to see how New York City's recent ban on sugary drinks over 16 ounces plays out, but said they would rather the government make healthy choices easier rather than mandating lifestyle changes. Examples they gave include building bike lanes, proving healthy food in school meals and creating incentives to buy healthy foods.

"If we punish people for making certain choices that isn't going to necessarily create the culture change that we really need to see in this country," Levi said.